Juneteenth, a now federal holiday celebrated on June 19th each year, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States.
This year the holiday falls on a Wednesday, but Hopkinsville will celebrate this Saturday afternoon. Paulette Nance Robinson tells Your News Edge the event will take place at the Boys and Girls Club on Walnut Street from 1:00 to 6:00 PM.
Dr. Gerald Smith, professor of history at the University of Kentucky, will be speaking at the event at 2:00 PM. Dr. Smith is the author of ‘Slavery and Freedom in the Bluegrass State: Revisiting My Old Kentucky Home.’
The event is being hosted by Divine 9, with the City of Hopkinsville, Fortera Bank, and other community partners on board as sponsors. Proceeds from the event will go toward a scholarship fund.
Juneteenth was first celebrated in Texas, where on June 19, 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.
